Council to consider South Main study
In the News
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Maryville City Council will meet in regular session at 7 p.m. Monday, July 9, at City Hall.
During the meeting, the council is expected to take up a brief agenda that includes only two ordinances.
The first would allow execution of a contract with Index Restaurant Supply of Kansas City for restaurant furnishings, fixtures and equipment at the Mozingo Lake Recreation Park conference center.
A second measure would execute a contract with Idaho-based Economic Modeling LLC, also known as Emsi, for a $26,000 benefit-cost study analyzing a proposed $10 million overhaul of the South Main Street retail corridor designed to improve traffic flow and pedestrian access.
Other components of the South Main project include landscaping and improved alignment of entryways and exists tying South Main to retail parking lots lining both sides of the street.
The $114,000 restaurant furnishings contract amounts to bureaucratic housekeeping related to items that have already been purchased using low-interest financing obtained by the city through Nodaway County Economic Development.
A restaurant lease with Brown Bread LLC, which owns the still-unopened conference center restaurant — William Coy’s — along with promissory notes for furnishings, fixtures and equipment, was approved by the council April 23. However, according to City Manager Greg McDanel, the actual contract with Index Restaurant Supply was inadvertently left off the agenda.
McDanel added that 90 percent of the restaurant furnishing and equipment purchased by the city have been delivered, and that William Coy’s is scheduled to begin serving diners this month.
The city purchased the equipment and furnishings so that the restaurant’s physical assets, including a walk-in freezer and cooler, stove exhaust hood, fire-suppression system and tables and chairs, would remain in place should another eatery replace William Coy’s in the future.
As for the South Main study, McDanel said the analysis is needed in order to apply for a $9 million to $10 million BUILD grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation. BUILD stands for Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development.
McDanel said that BUILD grant awards are “extremely competitive,” and that city staff, along with staff from the Northwest Missouri Council of Governments, have been working on the application, which is due July 19, for several weeks.
He added that the benefit-cost analysis is the most technically demanding application component and requires collection of a wide variety of data, including such factors as travel-time savings, vehicle operation cost savings, safety benefits, emissions reductions and overall economic impact.
Hiring Emsi would be an unbudgeted capital expense, but McDanel said sufficient reserves are available in the city’s Capital Improvement Fund to cover the cost.
The grant would pay for 100 percent of the South Main project should Maryville be approved for BUILD funds at the requested level.
Monday’s agenda also includes two discussion items, issues that typically comprise staff input and comments and questions by council members but require no immediate action.
The first topic will address design and engineering issues related to the South Main project. The second involves municipal business license requirements.
